I Love This Crazy Toddler of Mine

To continue on the Josie theme from Monday's post, let me tell you about a few things Josie has been doing lately that baffle me, make me laugh, and otherwise fascinate me.

Thing the first: Her newest defense mechanism.

Lately, she seems to get her little hands on things she shouldn't have ALL THE TIME, especially since she got so tall that she can basically reach everything in the GD house. When I spot her holding something she shouldn't have and make mention of how she shouldn't have it or how I'm going to take it away (or sometimes just give her the stink-eye), she immediately clutches said object to her chest and collapses to the floor, face down, to protect her contraband. She is also amazingly strong, so she can stay in that position and keep you from getting whatever is under her chest for a surprisingly long time. Punk.

Thing the second: her insane memory.

Her memory is excellent lately, and I used to just shake my head or smile at how she was not a baby anymore and all that, but lately ... it is actually FREAKING ME OUT. 

Excellent example: yesterday we were headed to Joann Fabrics and drove past Petco. Josephine immediately started shouting "FISH! FISH! FISHIES!!!" and frantically pointing at the sign. I said, "Yes, they have fish there. Maybe we can go see them sometime soon." Okay, we have been in that store TWICE. Once was two months ago (when we did, in fact, look at fish), and the other was at least six months ago. I mean, come on. I know it wasn't a coincidence, because the only other times she shouts "FISH!" with such urgency are when she actually sees a fish and when we pull up to Meijer, because she knows there are fish there to been seen as well.

That would freak you out a little too, right?

Thing the third: weird vocab shifts.

You'd think with that insane memory of hers, I'd be bragging about her language explosion here, but it's the weirdest thing: She is learning tons and tons of new words and phrases, and she is identifying lots of letters, but at the same time, she is almost (I hate to say it) regressing with a few words.

There are a few words in particular that she has been able to say clearly and in appropriate contexts for a very long time now (bite, baby, horsey), that she suddenly starting pronouncing differently. She says "but" for "bite," "mee-mee" for "baby" and "sie-sie" for "horsey." Weird, huh? I keep telling myself she is just experimenting with language, but she never really did this before. If she changed pronunciation, it was to get closer to the actual word, not to take a step back like that. Anyone else have a kid who did this? I'm not worried, just interested.

Then, as I was finishing writing this, she picked up my camera, handed it to me, and said "Cheeeese!"

And I figured, that's as good a way as any to end this post. Thanks, kid. :)